Well i'm a student with celiac disease and last year I missed 28 days of school due to celiac disease and no one understood what was going on, i didn't even know at the time. I was sick all the time and people were just blowin' it off and sayin' you need to be in school when in fact whenever I went to school I would occasionaly go on myself. The school even questioned whether to let me graduate or not. I did, but I was so sick even during graduation activities like the senior trip to a theme park, graduation practice and such. If I wasn't really sick then why would I INTENTIONALLY miss things that I'm suppose to remember for the rest of my life? Principals and assistant principals even questioned my doctors notes. They thought I was missing school just not to go. It was so hard waking up each morning trying to get motivated to go to high school when in between putting on each peice of clothing your running to the bathroom, and then KNOWING that it's going to happen at school too.
Before I found out what was wrong with me and why I was constantly running to the bathroom, graduation was right around the corner and the girls had to wear all white and our robes were white. I was so scared that in the middle of graduation it was going to hit me and I'd go on myself because I wouldn't be able to just get up and walk out. So my parents, well my mom said that maybe I should wear a depends during the service and then just take it off when I get home, but I was NOT going to wear a depends. Thankfully nothing hit me, I mean it did but I didn't go on myself. I was in a complete body sweat, with my legs shaking the whole time during graduation because I felt it. But I do think that schools should acknowledge Celiac disease it's so hard tryin' to deal with it in school, especially when you go to a school that has no doors on the bathroom stalls. Dealing with this my last year of high school, my senior year, was probably the hardest thing I've EVER had to do.

Well hello yall, my name is Joanna, I'm 19 and I was just recently diagnosed with celiac disease in May 2006. During my senior year of high school I missed 28 days due to everything that comes along with celiac disease. At the time my family thought it was just a bug, then the last week of my senior year, I woke up with an unbearable pain on my left side. We went to the emergency room, they gave me morphine and everything, it was bad!!! They did x-rays, thinkin' it was kidney stones, then the Dr. thought it was, gall stones, then they they thought I had IBS (irritable bowl syndrome), then they thought this and thought that, finally I got into GI doctor and he said hey lets do this...so I was scheduled for a colonoscopy and an endoscopy a week after my high school graduation. They found out that I have celiac disease, it was the most dreadful thing to hear, b/c EVERYHING has wheat in it, but I was so happy to finally find out what was giving me such a fit and making me lose so much weigh! I use to go to the bathroom EVERYDAY at school, w/ watery D, I actually had went on myself several times b/c I had such a long way to walk to the bathroom and then tryin' to get the teacher to even let me leave class. My senior year was ruined, but...all i can do is look towards the future. In the beginning I use to dread going out with friends for dinner or to concerts or just to hang out in fear that it would hit me. I felt and still feel like whenever i'm nervous or stressed about something it hits me. Now I'm in my 1st year of college and I'm still dealing with it but I can't let it stop me in my tracks, i've got things I see myself doing in the future, and sittin' on my butt at home because I'm afraid "it" might hit me ain't it. I absolutely dread my public speaking class...I will be a CRAPPY MESS....haha...but I finally realized that their are more people with our problem than let on...so I do what I've got to do and give everything my best...ALWAYS...ALWAYS...ALWAYS REMEMBER: God doesn't give you more than you can handle!!
Oh yeah, i'm in college for nursing. So whenever I make it big i'm gonna let everyone know about celiac disease and then maybe people won't be so yucky about it!!
I LOVE YOU CELIACS!!!!!

Well sweetie congradulations on the job! And I totally understand what you're taking about, i dealt with the same thing, but at the time I didn't know what it was. During my senior year of high school i missed 28 days due to exactly what you're talking about. My family thought it was just a bug, then the last week of my senior year, I woke up with an unbearable pain on my left side. We went to the emergency room, they gave me morphine and everything, it was bad!!! THey did x-rays, thinkin' it was kidney stones, then the Dr. thought it was, gall stones, they they thought I had IBS (irritable bowl syndrome), then they thought this and thought that, finally I got into GI doctor and he said hey lets do this, so I was scheduled for a colonoscopy and an endoscopy a week after my high school graduation. They found out that I have celiac disease, it was the most dreadful thing to hear, b/c EVERYHING has wheat in it! But back to what you were talking about, I use to go to the bathroom EVERYDAY at school, w/ watery D, I actually had went on myself several times b/c I had such a long way to walk to the bathroom and then tryin' to get the teacher to even let me leave class. My senior year was ruined, but...all i can do is look towards the future. Don't dread going out, just deal with it. I'm in my 1st year of college now and I'm still dealing with it but I can't let it stop me in my tracks, i've got things I see myself doing in the future, and sittin' on my butt at home because I'm afraid "it" might hit me ain't it. Although, I do dread my public speaking class...I will be a CRAPPY MESS....haha...but just realize that their are more people with our problem than let on...go to that job and do your best...ALWAYS...ALWAYS...ALWAYS REMEMBER: God doesn't give you more than you can handle!!

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Celiac.com was founded in 1995 by Scott Adams, author of Cereal Killers, founder and publisher of Journal of Gluten Sensitivity, and founder of The Gluten-Free Mall, who had a single goal for the site: To help as many people as possible with celiac disease get diagnosed and living a happy, healthy gluten-free life!